Combination tab selector



Oct. 14, 1969 ANDERSON 3,472,114

COMBINATION TAB SELECTOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 17, 1963 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 ANDERSN 3,472,114

COMBINATION TAB SELECTOR Filed June 17, 1963 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

ATTORNEY 0d. 14, 1969 J. .1. ANDERSON ETAL COMBINATION TAB SELECTOR Filed June 1'7, 1963 m. a M

nnpoasas DBDDEHDEID 'UDDEEJEJBEU n uunnunsn 8 DDDDDDDL 5;, manna y 45/ Lav/N 7T aw 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

ATT QNE Oct. 14, 1969 J. J. ANDERSON ETAL 3,472,114

COMBINATION TAB SELECTOR Filed June 17, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet q aA/S TL/CC/ INVENTOR.

ATTQQHEY United States Patent 3,472,114 COMBINATION TAB SELECTOR Joseph J. Anderson, Buena Park, and Morris L. Tucci, Van Nuys, Califi, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Warwick Electronics Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 17, 1963, Ser. No. 288,181

Int. Cl. GlOb 3/10 US. Cl. 84-345 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gang control for organ voice tabs is provided, which permits a predetermined group of the voice tabs to be operated by a single manual adjustment. Each tab is provided with a plurality of coupling keys which enables it either to be attached or separated from any particular gang control to provide individual adjustment for the individual organists. Also, the structure is such that even when the selected tabs are coupled into the gang control, they may still be individually operated.

Each organist usually has a favorite selection of voice and effect combinations. The selection of individual tabs to produce the particular combination requires one of the players hands to be away from the keyboard for a period of time. Although that time may be quite, short, nevertheless, it is a period of time when the hand is not at the keyboard.

It is an object of this invention to provide means whereby a gang of such tabs may be moved into the active on position by a single manual act of the organist.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a plurality of gang control stations remote from the tabs whereby a plurality of such combinations may be alternately selected by operation of the controls.

It is a further object of the invention to permit individual control of the tabs prior to or after gang control operation to thereby add to, or subtract from, the particular combination produced by operation of any given gang control.

It is a still further and more specific object of the invention to provide each tab with a hitch structure enabling that particular tab to be either attached to or separated from the control apparatus of any given gang control in order that the combination selected by a particular gang control may be altered to suit the needs of the particular organist.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a means for canceling all tab positions by a single control.

It is yet another object of the invention to interlock each gang control in such manner that all previously selected tabs not grouped under a selected gang, are returned to an inactive position as the combination of that particular control is established.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, a preferred form of the present invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of an organ embodying function tabs and employing the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an illustration of a panel from which a plurality of tabs project, and having a plurality of gang control pistons located at remote stations in the panel above the tabs;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of a section of an electronic organ, substantially as taken along the plane 33 of FIGURE 2, and illustrating the function control mechanism behind the face panel;

FIGURE 4 is a section taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 4A is a view corresponding to FIGURE 4, with the mechanism actuated to an active, or on, position;

FIGURE 5 is a section view taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 3, with the mechanism in its rest position;

FIGURE 5A is the same section as FIGURE 5 with the mechanism actuated to the limit of its functional travel;

FIGURE 6 is a view corresponding to the FIGURE 2, taken substantially along the line 66 of FIGURE 5A, and illustrating a selected group of the tabs moved into a second station position;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 77 of FIGURE 3 with all tabs elevated to an off position in the inactive station, and showing the structure used to cancel all tabs;

FIGURE 7A illustrates the relative positioning of the actuation lever in comparison to that shown in FIGURE 7, which position is obtained upon actuation of any tab out of its inactive station position to an active station position;

FIGURE 8 is a View taken substantially along the line 88 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged side view of a tab and its associated structure;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken along line 1010 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of the apparatus during rearrangement of the parts.

The reference character 10 indicates an organ which provides an environment for the present invention. This invention may be employed wherever tabs are employed for selectively controlling functions, whether or not it might be an organ.

The organ 10 is a two-manual organ having keyboards 11 and 12, and above the keyboard 11 are a series of tabs extending across the entire length of the organ. These tabs are for the purpose of actuating various controls within the cabinet of the organ. For the purpose of illustrating the present invention, a group of tabs 15 indicated by the bracketed area 14 will be set forth in detail. The function tabs within the group 14 operate voices, provide sustain effect, and provide other similar functions typical to organs.

The particular section 14 is shown in somewhat enlarged detail in the FIGURE 2. In FIGURE 2, individual tabs 15 will be seen to be projecting toward the console in a slightly sloping attitude. These are a series of combination actuation pistons 16 and a cancel piston 17 located to project through the face of the panel directly above the row of tabs.

The function of the tabs and the various pistons will be understood by a study of the structure operated within the organ by the tabs and the pistons. For this purpose, refer to the FIGURE 3 and the various section views located by reference to the FIGURE 3.

The first of these section views is a side elevation of a tab and its associated mechanism, as seen in FIGURE 4. The individual tabs 15 have an external finger contact portion which projects through an opening 19 in the panel 18. Each tab 15 has a body 20. Body 20 is a pivot center for the various functions to be performed by the tab. A bifurcated yoke arm 21 projects upwardly from the body 20. A detent arm 22 projects inwardly away from the panel 18 at about the same angle of projection as the external finger portion of the tab. A limit arm 23 projects downwardly in the opposite direction from the yoke arm 21.

The tab is mounted upon a pivot rod 24 which extends behind the panel 18, at least the length of the tab section 14, and serves as a common pivot mount for all of the tabs that are to function as selected members of various groups operable by the pistons 16.

The control tabs 15 are operable manually between an active position, which is an electrically on station position, and an inactive position, which is an electrically off station position.

The inactive position is illustrated in the FIGURE 4. The inactive position for the finger tab is selected as the upper of the two sloping positions because it is easy for the organist to merely tap a tab in order to change it to its active condition, and it has traditionally been that the function is off when the tab is in the upper position. The active position of the tab is shown in FIGURE 4A.

It is desired that the tabs have a positive retention in one or the other of the station positions. Therefore, a spring 25 interconnects the end of the arm 22 and a frame section of the organ. The spring 25 is longer than the distance between these members and hence, tends to force the detent arm to any position other than the maximum alignment position. Such a structure is often referred to as an over-center device. The slot opening 19 would serve as a limit for movement of the tab, but the slot is not depended upon to establish the limits. A limit stop in the form of channel 26 extends longitudinally behind the panel directly below the pivot rod 24. The stop arm 23 operates within the channel 26 and contacts the lateral sides as limiting stops. Note, that the arm 23 is against the left side of channel 23 in FIGURE 4, and against the right side in FIGURE 4A. Thus, the tab will have the exact desired degree of swing limitation.

Referring again to the FIGURE 4, it will be seen that a series of switch poles 30 project upwardly through openings 31 in a printed circuit board 32. Poles 30 are fine wire. The connecting printed circuits operating from contacts located at the holes have been omitted, because the particular circuits have no bearing on the present invention. Such printed circuitry and means of switching by moving a switch pole 30 is well known.

Referring back to FIGURE 4, it will be seen that the switch poles 30 are carried on the end of an extension arm 33. The arm 33 is made of a strap of resilient material, and the material is preferably a synthetic resin, popularly referred to as a plastic. The form and nature of extension arms 33 may be best understood by observing the combination of FIGURES 3 and 11. Each arm 33 has a series of rectangular opening 34, one of which is located at the extreme forward end. See FIGURE 3. The opening 34 at the forward end creates an end bar. This bar is forced down between the two halves of the bifurcated yoke arm 21. The two halves of the yoke will spread and allow the bar at the end of arm 33 to snap into detent surfaces between the yoke arms and thus be pivotally retained. The opposite end of the arm 33, as seen in FIGURE 4, is equipped with a guide pin 35- and is guided in a guide opening provided in a channel 36. Channel 36 extends in a generally parallel direction to the pivot bar 24 and serves to hold and guide the opposite ends of the extension arms 33.

When the tabs are in position in FIGURE 4, the switch poles 30 stand vertically near one side of the holes 31. When the tabs are actuated to the downward station shown in FIGURE 4A, the body 20 pivots about the pivot rod 24 to swing the yoke 21 and move the extension arm toward panel 18. Such forward movement positions the switch poles 30 against the forward edge of holes 31 and completes the particular circuit served by the se lected switch poles 30.

Without further structure, this described apparatus would serve as a means for the organist to place various voice and special effect circuits into operation and nothing more would be required to express the proper tones from the organ.

However, this invention is provided to enable the organist to move a plurality of the individual tabs in a gang by a single hand operation. To accomplish this end, at least one drive rod is provided to extend laterally with respect to the direction of the extension arm movement. The rod is given a movement direction oriented to the path of the extension arm movement, and various hitch devices are provided to detachably interconnect between the various extension arms and the drive rod in order that a plurality of the extension arms may be driven by the drive rod.

Specifically, referring once again to the FIGURE 4, four drive shafts 37, 38, 39, and 40 are positioned to extend laterally with respect to the direction of the extension arms 33. Four are selected as an illustration because four different gang combinations have been determined to be enough to provide most of the usual gang combinations desired by an organist. The description will take place substantially directed to shaft 40, and it will be understood that the function and instructions will apply to all of the shafts.

Each shaft is splined and carries a plurality of keyed drive fingers 45. The drive fingers have a body portion 46. Body portion 46 has a lateral shaft opening therethrough including a groove to accommodate the spline of the drive shaft. Thus, the body with the finger thereon is 'slideable along the length of the shaft, but is fixed with respect to rotary movement around the axis of the shaft. If the shaft is rotated around its longitudinal axis, and thus given a movement direction oriented to the drive path of the extension arm 33, the fingers 45 will move in a direction oriented to that of the extension arm path. Note, however, by comparing FIGURES 4 and 4A, that the openings 34 are elongated and of suflicient length that the movement of the extension arm 33 by operation of the tab will not effect the fingers 45.

In FIGURE 4, which shows the nonfunctioning tab position, the fingers lie adjacent the front of each of the openings 34. In FIGURE 4A, which shows the active tab position, they lie near the rear of each of the openings. The extension arm 33 has moved freely from the position in FIGURE 4 to that of FIGURE 4A, but has not in any way exerted a drive force upon the fingers. Conversely, because the fingers are located at the front portion of the openings in FIGURE 4, upon counterclockwise rotational drive movement of the shaft 40, force will be exerted by the finger upon the extension arm 33. This force is then transmitted by the extension arm to the yoke 21 and hence will cause the body 20 to begin pivoting around the pivot rod 24. When the tab arm 22 has passed the overcenter position, the spring 25 will take over the movement and cause completion of the movement of the tab device to its second, or operative, position. Thus the extension arm 33 will be carried forward by the spring action away from the finger such that the finger and the forward portion of the opening 34 in which it operated, no longer are in contact. See this condition in FIGURE 4A.

Operation of the drive shafts, such as shaft 40, is accomplished by means of the combination pistons 16 operating through associated apparatus. FIGURE 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 3, and is therefore a side elevational view of one of the pistons 16 and the associated apparatus. In FIGURE 5, there is illustrated a drive body 48 having one end thereof supported by the piston 16 in the panel 18, and by a notch keyed to rod 24. The other end is supported by a pin guide 50 operating in an opening of the frame structure. A spring 51 is connected between the frame structure and extension arm of the drive body 48 and thus urges the drive 48 to a forward position wherein the piston 16 is projected a maximum amount from the panel 18.

A drive yoke 52 is nonrotatively secured to shaft 40 and projects downwardly to straddle the drive body 48. Pins 53 carried by the drive body 48 are engaged by the yoke 52 and provide a pivotal drive interconnection, see FIGURE 10.

Thus, any finger 45 carried by the shaft 40, and engaged into an opening 34, will be driven in a swing path related to the rotation of the shaft 40 as created by movement of the body 48. The finger will thus drive the associated tab from the inactive to the active position.

Because the shaft 40 extends the full length of the tab section 14, all tabs could be driven at one time by the provision of a finger 45 for each of the extension arms 33 and having each of the fingers engaged into the matching opening 34 of the extension arm. Seldom, however, is it desired that all of the tabs be actuated at one time. Hence, only selected ones of the extension arms are engaged to a particular shaft by fingers.

To make a selection, the organist may make a simple adjustment. See the FIGURE 11. Here the hand of the organist is seen to be grasping the extension arm 33 and causing it to bow upwardly and bridge over the drive shafts out of contact with all of the finger devices. The fingers are then shifted such that one finger will project through an extension arm opening 34, or will be located at a lateral side position where it will not engage into the opening, according to whether that particular extension arm is to be actuated by operation of that particular drive shaft. Note further, that the same extension arm 33 may be engaged by a finger 45 carried by one shaft, or by the fingers 45 carried by all four shafts, or it may not be engaged by any finger of any shaft. Hence, a particular tab may be set up to be operated regardless of which of the pistons 16 are pressed, or may be set up to be operated only when a selected one or more of the pistons 16 are pressed, or may be set up such that it will not be operated responsively to pressing of any of the pistons. In the latter case, the tabs must be operated manually.

As stated in the objects, it is desirable that the organist need not separately cancel the tabs before employing another set of tabs, and also that it is desirable that all of the tabs may be returned to the inactive station position by pressing of a single cancel piston 17. To better understand this feature of the invention, reference is directed to the FIGURE 9.

In FIGURE 9, the splined nature of the shaft 24 will be observed. A spline 60 projects from the rod 24 in substantially a horizontal direction, although this direction is entirely arbitrary. The body is provided with a lateral opening to accept the body of the rod 24 and an elongated arcuate recess 65 is provided to accommodate the spline 60. The FIGURE 9 represents the inactive position of the tab. In this inactive condition, any movement of a tab counterclockwise around pivot rod 24 to an active position must be accompanied by rotation of the rod 24, because the spline 60 is at the limit of the upper end of the arcuate recess 65. Although not illustrated in the drawing, it will be appreciated that after the tab has been moved to the active position and the rod 24 rotated therealong, the tab may be returned to the inactive position of FIG- URE 9 without causing the rod 24 to return. Having moved with the body 20 to the new rotative position, the excess of the arcuate recess 65 is positioned on the return side of th spline 60 and hence the body may rotate clockwise without bringing the end of the arcuate recess 65 into contact with the spline 60.

Refer now to FIGURE 5.

Adjacent each of the drive bodies 48 is a lever 61 which is nonrotatively secured to the rod 24. Lever 61 projects upwardly at generally the two oclock position whenever the rod 24 is rotated clockwise to its maximum position allowable when all tabs are in the inactive position. Movement of any tab to the active condition, causing the spline 60 to rotate counter clockwise as previously described, will cause the lever 61 to rotate counterclockwise to substantially the one oclock position illustrated in FIGURE 5A. Therefore, as the piston 16 is pressed inwardly, if the shaft operated by that particular gang drive is connected to any extension arm 33, such that at least one tab is moved from the inactive to the active condition, the rod 24 will be rotated counterclockwise and the lever 61 will change in position from that illustrated in FIGURE 5, to that illustrated in FIGURE 5A.

FIGURES 5 and 5A illustrate one gang drive in operation.

As another example, if the drive body 48 in FIGURE 5 is inactive, and another of the pistons is actuated to the position as illustrated in FIGURE 5A, the lever 61 in FIGURE 5 will rotate counterclockwise into contact with a cam lobe 62. In the position shown in FIGURE 5, the lobe 62 will move in a straight line and pass over the top of the lever 61, but when lever 61 is rotated counterclockwise, the lever extends into the path of lateral movement of the lobe 62 and hence will be contacted. Thus, each time one of the pistons 16 is actuated, provided at least one tab is also actuated, a lever 61 adjacent each of the gang drives 48 will rotate and assume an obstruction position as described. Thus, if at a later time, such piston 16 is actuated to drive its related drive shaft, it must first strike and drive the lever 61 associated therewith into the two oclock position illustrated in FIGURE 5. Thus, in so driving the lever 61 to the two oclock position, the pivot rod 24 is brought into the position illustrated in FIGURE 9 and thus will force all of the tab members to move up to the inactive position. Note that the movement of the lever to thus cancel all of the tab members will take place prior to sufiicient movement of the drive body 48 which causes the drive of th extension arms 33 sufiicient to actuate the new selection of tabs into their active position. Hence, driving of any particular one of the pistons 16 will cause all of the tabs to move to the inactive position, whereafter the selected tabs hitched to the particular drive 48 will be activated.

It is sometimes desired that regardless of whether the tabs have been selected individually or in gang by the various pistons 16, that all of the selected tabs be canceled and returned to their inactive position. To accomplish this function, ther is provided a cancel piston 17. This particular piston and associated structure is illustrated in FIGURE 7. Because of the similarity of structure to FIG- URE 5, the device driven by the piston 17 is indicated by the reference character 48A. Drive 48A does not have a drive interconnection by means of a yoke 52 with any of the drive shafts 37-40.

A lever 67 is carried on the rod 24 nonrotative with respect thereto, and acts in the same manner as that described with respect to the levers 61. The lever 67 is positioned to be contacted and driven by the cam pin 68. As illustrated in FIGURE 7, the lever 67 is in the position assumed after piston 17 has been employed to clear all of the tabs and return them to an inoperable condition. In the illustrated position, the spline 60 of rod 24 is horizontal and thereby corresponds to the position shown in FIGURE 9. When any tab is actuated, lever 67 assumes the more erect, or one oclock position, illustrated in FIG- URE 7A. It is possible to have lever 67 in the position shown in FIGURE 7A, with all of the tabs in the inactive condition, by manually raising each of the tabs to its inactive condition externally of the panel 18. However,

this is not the normal situation, and therefore after the cancel piston 17 has been pressed inwardly to rotate lever 67 to its two oclock position, the drive 48A will return the piston 17 to its fully extended condition as illustrated in FIGURE 7.

Because it is desirable to have the rod 24 act upon the several tabs 15 in a positive manner, a plurality of spacer detents 70, as shown in FIGURE 8, are employed to urge the shaft into one extreme position or the other. The spacer detents 70 act through a spring 72, in the manner described with respect to the operation of spring 25 upon detent arm 22. Thus, a partial actuation of the pistons 16 or 17 cannot result in a midway positioning of the rod 24. The over-center action of the springs 72 will assure a complete travel of the rod to its full operative or full inactive positions.

If the cam lobes 62 are fixed cam devices as illustrated in the drawing, it will be observed that the piston 16 will not be free to return to its fully extended position by operation of spring 51 after having been actuated. See FIGURE A. After the piston is released in FIGURE 5A, the cam lobe 62 will abut the lever 61 which has been rotated to a one oclock interference position. Hence, the piston 16' will be held against full return. If desired, cam lobe 62 may be provided in the form of a pivotal dog and thus allow the cam to pivot over the top of the lever 61 in the return direction and permit the piston 16 to return to its extended condition.

What is claimed is:

1. In a control for an organ, or the like, the combinetion of:

a supporting frame;

a plurality of extension arms mounted on said frame for rectilinear and reciprocal movement with respect thereto, each of said extension arms having at least one elongated opening therein;

at least one drive rod rotatably mounted on said frame and extending thereacross in transverse relationship with said extension arms; and

a plurality of drive fingers nonrotatively keyed to said drive rod and slidable therealong to positions wherein selected ones of said drive fingers may extend into the aforesaid openings in selected ones of said extension arms, so that rotational movement of said drive rod causes the aforesaid selected drive fingers to engage the ends of the openings in the aforesaid selected extension arms thereby to produce rectilinear movement of the selected extension arms.

2. In a control for an organ, or the like, the combinar tion of:

a supporting frame;

a plurality of control tabs mounted on said frame and individually and manually operable between an active position and an inactive position;

a corresponding plurality of extension arms respectively coupled to said tabs and extending back across said supporting frame, each of said extension arms having a series of longitudinal elongated openings therein and each being movable rectilinearly and reciprocally with respect to said frame upon movements of the corresponding aforesaid tabs between their active and inactive positions;

at least one drive rod rotatably mounted in said frame and extending thereacross in transverse relationship with said extension arms;

a plurality of drive fingers nonrotatively keyed to said drive rod and slidable therealong to positions wherein selected ones of said drive fingers may extend into the aforesaid openings in selected ones of said extension arms; and

a control member coupled to said drive rod for producing rotational drive movement of said rod to cause the aforesaid selected drive fingers to engage the ends of the openings in the aforesaid selected extension arms thereby to produce rectilinear movement of the selected extension arms.

3. The control defined in claim 2, and which includes a corresponding plurality of control elements for said organ respectively coupled to said extension arms and individually actuable upon the aforesaid rectilinear movement of said extension arms.

4. The control defined in claim 2, and which includes a pivot rod mounted on said frame and extending thereacross, with said extension arms extending back in essentially parallel relationship from the axis of said pivot rod; and in which said control tabs are mounted on said pivot rod for individual pivotal movement about the axis of said pivot rod between the aforesaid active and inactive positions.

5. The control defined in claim 4, and which includes separate resilient means coupled to said frame and to respective ones of said tabs in an over-center relationship resiliently to bias said individual tabs into either the active or inactive positions thereof.

6. The control defined in claim 2, in which said extension arms are formed of a resilient material to facilitate the introduction of the aforesaid drive fingers into the openings therein.

7. The control defined in claim 2, and which includes resilient means coupled to said frame and to said extension members for resiliently biasing said extension members in a particular direction with respect to said frame along the respective paths of rectilinear and reciprocal movement thereof.

8. The control defined in claim 2, and which includes a plurality of the aforesaid drive rods extending in spaced parallel relationship to one another and in transverse relationship with said extension arms, each having a plurality of the aforesaid drive fingers keyed thereto in nonrotative relationship therewith and slidable therealong, and which includes a plurality of the aforesaid control members coupled to respective ones of said drive rods.

9. The control defined in claim 8, in which said tabs are mounted on a first shaft for limited pivotal movement with respect thereto between the active and the inactive positions thereof, and which includes a further control member coupled to the last-named pivot shaft for producing sulficient rotational movement thereto for simultaneously returning all previously activated tabs to their inactive position.

10. The control defined in claim 8, and which includes mechanical interlocking means between said control members and said tabs to return all activated tabs to their inactive position upon the actuation of any one of said control members and prior to the actuation thereby of the selected extension arms coupled thereto.

11. The control defined in claim 2, in which said openings in said extension arms are elongated so as to permit individual movement of said extension arms independent of the aforesaid drive rod and drive fingers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,725,576 8/1929 Flaherty 84-345 2,021,126 11/1935 Austin 84-345 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner LAWRENCE R. FRANKLIN, Assistant Examiner 

